Earth Day is around the corner, and Columbus is looking for help to get the city cleaner and greener. Gather the family together and volunteer to Keep Columbus Beautiful! Here’s the skinny straight from my inbox to you:
April 14 and 15, Volunteers of all ages needed for Earth Day Work Sites!
Columbus, Ohio—Green Columbus is looking for schools, churches, non-profits, parks and business sites that would like help with trash pick-up, planting, and making their community cleaner and greener. The organization is teaming up with lead sponsor The Nature Conservancy to plan a large-scale volunteer service event for the weekend of April 14 and 15, with the help of Keep Columbus Beautiful. A citywide celebration will follow a week later on Saturday, April 21, to be held for the first time at Columbus Commons Park.
“We are reaching out to Central Ohio non-profits, schools, parks, churches and businesses who would like help “rooting down” — cleaning, digging, planting, and making their space greener and more environmentally sustainable,” said Tad Dritz, founder of Green Columbus. “We are really pushing to make 2012, the year of Columbus’ Bicentennial, the largest Earth Day effort to date.”
This year will mark the 6th annual Earth Day event organized by Green Columbus, a local non-profit organization. Last year’s event, titled ‘Lighten Up’, brought out over 3,000 volunteers to
137 worksites around the city, where they put in more than 8,000 hours of work planting trees,cleaning up neighborhoods, establishing community gardens and much more. The volunteer
turnout in Central Ohio was the largest anywhere for Earth Day.
If you are interested in signing up, Green Columbus is asking that you to register your site at www.earthdaycolumbus.org and be prepared to: provide a description of the exact nature of
the project, designate a site leader during the weekend of April 14th and 15th, recruit at least 10% of the workers from within your organization, and determine the number of volunteers
and the type of equipment and tools you will need to complete the task.
Some family-friendly work sites already created:
The Greater Bexley Cleanup
Gateway South Parking Lot – Intersection of Main Street and Parkview
Organizer: Kelly Allen
Contact: kellyholdenallen@
Bluffsview Elementary Cleanup
7111 Linworth Road
Organizer: Amy Krohn
Contact: apkk1@yahoo.com or 614-301-5015
Community Garden Installation with Franklinton Gardens
909 W. Rich St
Organizer: Patrick Kaufman
Contact: patrick.kaufman@
Goodale Park Earth Day Cleanup
120 W. Goodale St.
Organizer: Julie Hallan
Contact: volunteercoordinator@
A few things to remember:
- Bring gloves for you and your children.
- Wear layers you can peel off if you get warm, and clothing that can get dirty or wet.
- Call the contact to see what kinds of tools they need. If you bring your own rake, shovel, hoe, etc. be sure to put your name on the handle in permanent marker.
- Bring water and snacks in case they are not provided.
